Dispenser



Sept. 29, 1942. D. v. ROWLAND DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 28,1941 INVENTOR. David D. Rowland ATTORNEYS D. V. ROWLAND Sept. 29, 1942.

DISPENSER Filed Feb. 28, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Rowland DavidBY ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 29, 1942 UNETE. BATS DISPENSER David V. Rowland,Sacramento, Calif. Application February 28, 1941, Serial No. 381,007

.7 Claims.

This invention relates to butter dispensers, particularly for use inrestaurants and the like, the principal object being to provide a devicefor the purpose by means of which individual slices of butter may be cutand dispensed directly onto a serving plate without touching the butterwith the hands.

A further object is to provide a portable dispenser for the purposearranged to be held and manipulated by one hand so that a supply ofbutter for any diner may be replenished at the table and directly ontohis plate without taking the plate away or bringing a supply on anotherplate.

Another object is to provide a, simple and easily adjusted means foraltering the thickness of the slices dispensed.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposefor which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved dispenser with the dispenserunit in its inopera- K tive or retracted position.

Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the dispenser showing thedispensing unit in operation and fully advanced.

Figure 4 is a sectional plan on the line of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the dispenser comprises a rectangular open-ended verticalreceptable l of a size to slidably receive a standard quarter-pound cubeof butter as at 2. A pressure plate 3 urged by a line compression spring4 bears down on top of the cube, the spring being suspended from a cap'5 which is removably clipped onto the receptacle over the top thereof.A horizontal bar 6 is rigidly secured on and projects from the back wallof the receptacle near the top and is provided at its outer end with arigid depending handle 'I.

Mounted rigid with the receptacle at the .bottom and projecting belowthe same on opposite sides are vertically disposed horizontal sideflanges 8. These are parallel to the bar 6 and extend forwardly from thefront side of the receptacle a distance greater than the width of thesame from front to rear. The flanges are flat on the bottom andterminate on a level below that of the lower edge of the handle so thatthe device may be supported by said flanges in an upstanding positionfrom a table or the like when desired. The flanges are formed withlongitudinal horizontal slots 9 immediately below the bottom of thereceptacle and which slots extend from the rear wall thereof forwardlyto a termination in front of the same a distance approximately equal tosaid width of the receptacle.

A slide unit engages the slots, said unit comprising a rearwardly facingbutter cutting knife [0, a butter supporting plate H spaced from behindthe blade relative to the direction of cutting movement of the latter,and connecting strips l2 between said blade and plate disposed laterallyout from the flanges 8. The slide unit adjacent the blade and laterallyout from said flanges is connected to the ends of a horizontal U-shapedyoke l3 at its rear end and is connected to a centrally disposedupstanding arm l4 parallel to the handle I. This arm projects betweensaid handle and the adjacent wall of the receptacle and forms a fingergri-p member adapted to be engaged by the fingers of the same handholding the handle. A rod [5 extends between the receptacle and thehandle I parallel to the slots 9 and projects through the arm 14 nearthe top so that the latter is slida-bly supported and guided; the armand receptacle being connected above said rod by a tension spring I6.

Mounted as a unit with the arm and yoke centrally below the horizontalplane of the latter is a boss I! in which a stem I3 is turnably mountedwith a friction fit, said stem being parallel to the slots 9. A knob isis rigid with the stem back of the boss so that it may be readilyturned. In front of the boss a forwardly projecting rod 2|] is mountedrigid with but eccentric to the stem while being disposed in a planeparallel thereto. The forward end of the rod is spaced from the cuttingedge of the blade iii a distance less than the width of the butter cube.

The arrangement and relative positioning of the parts above describedare such that, when the spring 16 is free to act, the arm [4 is movedtoward the receptacle, the blade It is ahead of the receptacle, as shownin Fig. 1, and the rod 29 is under and below the receptacle in a buttersupporting position, as in Fig. 2. The distance which the butterprojects below the slots and the bottom of the receptacle, and whichcontrols the thicknesses of the slices to be cut, depends on the settingof the eccentric rod about its supporting stem l8, as will be evident.

When it is desired to dispense a slice of butter onto a dish, thedispenser is lifted by the handle I, while certain fingers of said handextend to also engage about the arm M. The dispenser is held so that thereceptacle is directly over the plate onto which the butter is to bedispensed, and hand pressure is then exerted to draw said arm l4 towardthe handle. With such movement of the arm the blade I is drawn throughthe butter at the level of the bottom of the receptacle, the rear wallof which forms a stationary blade cooperating with the moving blade H]at the determination of the cutting stroke. At the same time the rod 20is gradually withdrawn from under the butter, while the plate II isadvaneed to support the main cube at the level of the out after the cutslice S has dropped of its own weight clear of the path of movement ofthe slide as s wn in F 3- 7 When the slice has been dispensed the handpressure on the arm M is released and the spring it; pulls the arm backto its original position. The plate H and blade l0 then move elear oithe butter while the rod 20 returns to a pesition under the same. Assoon as the plate and blade clear the latter drops of its own weight orby the pressure of the spring 4, and becomes then again supported by therod in position for the next dispensing operation.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as subst n a y fil s he ob e of th n on as setforth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction f thedevice, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure irorn the spirit ofthe invention, as denned'by th app nd a Having thus described myinvention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by L t rsPa e s:

l, A portable butter dispenser comprising an upstanding tubularreceptacle to hold a cube of butter in slidable relation, a handlemounted rigs id with the receptacle whereby the latter may be lifted anheld in dispensing position, said handle extending in substantially thesame direction as the receptacle and bei g spaced from one side thereof,means to support the cube below the lower edge of the receptacle apredetermined dis-. tance, a cutting blade mounted for sliding movementacross the receptacle immediately below the said lower edge thereof andmeans to thus slide the blade and including an actuating element mountedin position between said receptacle and handle whereby said element canbe grasped and actuated by the fingers of the same hand grasp ing thehandle.

2. A portable butter dispenser comprising an upstanding tubularreceptacle to hold a cube of butter in slidable relation, a handlemounted rig-. id with the receptacle whereby the latter may be liftedand held in dispensing position, said handle being substantiallyparallel to and spaced from one side of the receptacle, means to sup.-port the cube below the lower edge of the receptacle a predetermineddistance, a cutting blade mounted for sliding movement immediately belowthe lower edge of the receptacle and across the same in a directiontoward and from the handle and means to thus slide the blade includingan upstanding finger grip arm operatively connected to the blade anddisposed between the handle and the adjacent side of the receptacle.

3. A portable butter dispenser comprising an upstanding tubularreceptacle to hold a cube of butter in slidable relation, a handlemounted rigid with the receptacle whereby the latter may be lifted andheld in dispensing position, said handle being substantially parallel toand spaced from one side of the receptacle, means to support the cubebelow the lower edge of the receptacle a predetermined distance, acutting blade, means mounting the blade for sliding movement immediatelybelow the lower edge of the receptacle from a point clear of the side ofthe receptacle opposite the handle to the side adjacent the handle, anupstanding finger grip arm rigid with and operatively connected to theblade and disposed between the handle and adjacent side of thereceptacle and a spring urging the arm to- 1 ward the receptacle andnormally causing the blade to be held clear of said opposite side of thereceptacle.

4. A portable butter dispenser comprising an upstanding tubularreceptacle to hold a cube of butter in slidable relation, a handlemounted rigid with the receptacle whereby the latter may be lifted andheld in dispensing position, said handle being substantially parallel toand spaced from one side of the receptacle, means to support the cubebelow the lower edge of the receptacle a predetermined distance, acutting blade, means mounting the blade for sliding movement immediatelybelow the lower edge of the receptacle from a point clear of the side ofthe receptacle opposite the handle to the side adjacent the handle, aU-shaped horizontally disposed yoke whose ends are connected to theblade laterally out from the receptacle and projecting toward thehandle, a finger grip arm rigid with and upstanding from the yokecentrally thereof between the handle and the adjacent side of thereceptacle, and a tension spring between the arm adjacent its upper endand the receptacle and urging the arm toward said receptacle to normallymaintain the blade clear of the opposite side of the receptacle.

5. A structure as in claim 4, with a guide member rigid with thereceptacle with which the arm is slidably engaged adjacent its upperend.

6. A butter dispenser comprising an upstand- 111 tubular receptacle tohold a cube of butter in lidable relation, a cutting blade mounted formovement across the cube immediately below the receptacle, a rodnormally projecting under the receptacle at right angles to the blade,and means meunting said rod for rotation about an axis parallel buteccentric thereto.

7. A structure as in claim 6, in which said rod mounting means includesa boss mounted rigid with and a predetermined distance in front of theblade, a stem parallel to the rod and turnable in the bgss, a connectionbetween the end of the rod farthest from the blade and the adjacent endof the stem to maintain the rod eccentric to tile stem, and a knob onthe opposite end of the s cm.

DA I ROW A D-

